Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-09-29
A Detailed Account Of the Recent
Troubles Between Whites and Ne
groes in the Gulf County.
Some Say iDe Constable Stole Beef and
Horse aud Has Fled from
the Country.
The Attack on shs Negro Divers Cabin
and the Ensuing Battle-Doings OF tho
Forty Seven Negroes-Edmors, Etc.

,luCu IN lulS ESCKOl inc WOOQS, lnS rSLuEu-
ing rangers reporting that al is quiet IN
and that no more trouble is
Gt this time. Your correspond |
ent has endeavored to get full and fair in
formation of the uprising, and believes !
that be was successful, having
CONVERsED FREELY AND FRANKLY
with ell classes OF people, and presents
the following rs being al impartial state
ment Of the whole affair from It's in
cipiency. The reader will please besr ir
mind that hardly statement is msGe but
it is contradicted either positively or by
rumor and that probably e more two
sided question never came up; there is
no dou0t but that the entire af4ir origi-
mated when the negro constable served
papers on wnite msn named
Nichols, the said Nichols
having refused to work the roads.
It is said by both parties thst white
man named Stafford, VINO is at the head
Of six or eight (bad) white men OF the
section near the cJsst, went win the
constable TO show him where Nichols
was. Since then the negro has not been
seen. Some gay mule that he had been
riding was found in q pasture (tbree
different pastures being given ana tnat
horse was taken III its place, the
inference being that the constable h&s
fed the Cou0try 10 escape indictment for
stealing beef. Others say there is no
doubt that the constable was killed and
so thinks the sheriff; at any rate the
negroes took that view OF the matter snd
forty-seVen of them armed went in c body
to n cho!s' house ana demanded to Know
ThEre the constable was, threatening
TO KILL NICHOLS
if he was not given up. No one was st
home when the negroes arrived except
the women folks: and the negroes left az
ter insulting ard threatening the women,
but without doiEg them bodily harm
The eX:Ct number Of fhls 5and is placed
Of forty seven, as they were counted by
ZINE white men armed with Win
chestera, VINO wer5 hiden in the woods.
While the negroes passed by them
on the praiIes ca attempt TO pariey
was refused by the negroes, who c!4iGld
that the gent i'll command Of the whites,
Mr.. Charley Reese, was against them.
They cursed the waite men and told them
that they were going 10 kill Nichols,
Stafford and several other whites.
Mr.. Reese had some difficulty il
preventing his men from firing into
the dGEkies, but was successful, and &
collision was avoided. So fer these facts
are not disputed, except that it i3 clsimed
thst the negro constable had not stolen
beef, bu5 in fact was exceptionally peace
able and polite, not even carrying pistol
when he went 10 serve law papers Rq-
m0rs then came to Brazoris and Columpia
that %he blacks were organizing and had
threatened to
CLEAN OUT THE WHITES,
that they were assembling by hundreds
and srmirg for the deadly work. Care
ful investigation, however, could not
trace & single rumor to this effect, there
being no Tue who nsd ever seen or heard
Tie reality OF any body CT negroes assem-
bling together 20 the number OF even
twenty. or, for that matter, ten, except
the first gang of forty-seven seen
by the nine white men. Then came
the fight OF Sunday, the only irstsnce
where the negroes are known to have re-
turned fire. Two negroes were killed
| i'll TIE woods, one white nan emptying
bis Winchester st one OF :hem, and then
dismounting turned hinl over go sec If
be had the one ne wsGted) and finding
he YVES then discharged every one
of the roads in his six shooter into bim
and riding around the balance Of the dsy
With his hands sll bloody. Although this
negro was killed Sunday il was VYedues-
day before the negroes came TO burg him
The whites (probably another body then
Went TO the house Of Oliver Shepherd
who was known to be
DESPERATE MICRO
/ and who had sworn that he would never
be taken alive. On their WaV aud near
Shepherds, g negro named Munson, was
| discovered Squattlng IL @ cotton patch
some saying be vas unermed, While
others say he had shotgun
and attempted to shoot it-at any rate he
was killed. The whites then went ca 60
| Shepherds cehic aud saw him in front the
house with his Winchester. Fire YVES
opened and returned-the negro retreat
ing Inside OF the log cabin where he held
them st bay firing through the
cracks Of the house until dark, when the
captain called them of. 1t is said thai
| the walls of the cabin were full Of lead,
while the roof was literally shot of, the
negro being unhurt. It is ssid there were
TIVE! ~ whites surrounding the cabin and i
is mystery why they drew off, the only
plausible reason being that it was toe
hot for them. Mex morning another
raid was made On SHEPHERDS cabin, bu
| HE HAD GONE,
and after trailing him ten miles through
the brush, al traces of him were
lost, and be has not been heard O.
since and apparently pursuit hiss beer
| Abandoned Stafford sfems IN he thu
bright particular star OF the engagement
The party from BraZoria and Columbis
had captured two negroes, both after 6
long chase, and after having been clubbec
into submission. One of these
negroes refused to surrender even theI
until the son of his old master came up
when he Immediately said that he woulC
go with Mars Jim. These negroes were
taken to camp and the boys had to hid'
them under bed to keep Stafford
frou, kiln ther. she rnat-er rCirt